Kevin Na gets 1st tour win in Las Vegas – Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Kevin Na had a number of chances to win an event during his first eight years on the PGA Tour, but could never convert them. That ended on Sunday when he birdied three of his first five holes, made a huge putt to save par at the 11th and then carded birdies at 15, 16 and 17 to finish at 23 under par to finish two better than Nick Watney and won in Las Vegas.Paul Goydos and Tommy Gainey shared third at 18 under par and David Hearn, Carl Pettersson, Jhonattan Vegas, Spencer Levin and Tim Herron tied for fifth another shot back.
Na played in the final threesome alongside Watney, who was looking for his third win of the year, and Robert Garrigus, trying to get to the winner’s circle for the second straight year. The difference for Na, perhaps more than the key putts he converted, was advice he had received from two of his friends, Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi.
“Y.E. told me, said, ‘Kevin, don't try to win. Every time you try to win it's not going to happen. Just go out there and play. Almost feel like you're playing for second. That'll take the pressure off you,’” Na said. “He goes, ‘Every time I won a golf tournament I wasn't trying to win. When I beat Tiger,’ he said, ‘I wasn't trying to win.’ He said, ‘He's Tiger Woods. I'm just trying to finish second. But I just played my game.’ And he said, ‘it might sound funny, but it might work.’”
With that advice, Na told his caddie on Saturday that maybe he should try not to win. He used that thought process to take pressure off himself, the pressure he had put on himself when he’d had other chances.
In a recent conversation with Choi, Na was telling him how disappointed he was in the playoffs. After finishing in the top-30 for the last two years, Na finished 71st and only competed in two of the four playoff events. He added he was sick over it.
Choi told Na, “It's not a big deal. Maybe you'll win a fall series event. Maybe it's meant to be.
Na also said that having course knowledge, his home course id TPC Summerlin, helped.
“It helps a lot because you can trust your line and hit your putt, and obviously you have to putt it on line with a good speed, but to know these greens, it's a lot of help,” Na said.
“And not only that, Kenny Arms (his caddie) is a great green reader. I always ask him on every putt. So him and I combined -- him being a great green reader and me being home course here, it was a great combination.”
Make that a great and ‘winning’ combination.
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